Westbeld to Notre Dame.

[Fightin Choke]

Per tweets from Kathryn herself and Taya Reimer.

 

[EricLA]

Boy ND continues to recruit like gangbusters. So great to see them and Duke out-recruiting Tennessee on a regular basis.

 

[tnvolfan65]

Boy ND continues to recruit like gangbusters. So great to see them and Duke out-recruiting Tennessee on a regular basis.

Tennessee had a better class than Notre Dame in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2013. In 2012, Notre Dame was ranked 4th with the 4th, 33rd, and 52nd ranked players while Tennessee was ranked 5th with the 5th, 21st, and 39th ranked players.

They have a better class this year at the moment, but I don't see how that is considered out-recruiting Tennessee on a regular basis.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Tennessee had a better class than Notre Dame in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2013. In 2012, Notre Dame was ranked 4th with the 4th, 33rd, and 52nd ranked players while Tennessee was ranked 5th with the 5th, 21st, and 39th ranked players.

They have a better class this year at the moment, but I don't see how that is considered out-recruiting Tennessee on a regular basis.

And Notre Dame made the Final Four 3 years in a row. Must be better coaching in South Bend.

 

[tnvolfan65]

And Notre Dame made the Final Four 3 years in a row. Must be better coaching in South Bend.

I was disputing eric's statement about recruiting, not Notre Dame's recent success on the court .

Skylar Diggins was Notre Dame's biggest recruit ever, and she was a superstar for them.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

When are we gonna get a post player :-/

 

[Icebear]

Tennessee had a better class than Notre Dame in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2013. In 2012, Notre Dame was ranked 4th with the 4th, 33rd, and 52nd ranked players while Tennessee was ranked 5th with the 5th, 21st, and 39th ranked players.

They have a better class this year at the moment, but I don't see how that is considered out-recruiting Tennessee on a regular basis.

Yeah, how did those work out for TN.

 

[tnvolfan65]

Yeah, how did those work out for TN.

All of Tennessee's successes and failures have been well documented on this board. I'm not sure what that has to do with what I said.

With the classes I mentioned, we've won one National Championship, four conference tournaments, three regular season conference championships, and made it to four Elite Eights.

 

[HuskeySlim]

Good for Westbeld. I thought she would have been a great fit for the UCONN program. Everything I read about her was that she did not care about stats, but who got the W at the end of the game.

Does anyone know the story about her UCONN recruitment ? It seemed to me that we were right up there with ND, and Ohio St., then I read where one of the local writers said she was no longer in the picture. Anyone know what happened ?

 

[jdubct]

Good for Westbeld. I thought she would have been a great fit for the UCONN program. Everything I read about her was that she did not care about stats, but who got the W at the end of the game.

Does anyone know the story about her UCONN recruitment ? It seemed to me that we were right up there with ND, and Ohio St., then I read where one of the local writers said she was no longer in the picture. Anyone know what happened ?

My sense of it was that she indicated that Uconn was no longer one of her finalists (Ohio State and Notre Dame).

 

[doggydaddy]

All of Tennessee's successes and failures have been well documented on this board. I'm not sure what that has to do with what I said.

With the classes I mentioned, we've won one National Championship, four conference tournaments, three regular season conference championships, and made it to four Elite Eights.

Thank goodness you follow the boneyard so closely that you can correct any misstatements about Tennessee on a regular basis.

 

[meyers7]

All of Tennessee's successes and failures have been well documented on this board. I'm not sure what that has to do with what I said.

Exactly, I agree with you. ND has not out recruited TN, just out performed them.

 

[Vowelguy]

Westbeld, #20 composite, moves Irish up to #6.

 

[alexrgct]

She and Briana Turner make for a formidable front court. The notion of ND being a consistent contender is not especially exciting to me.

 

[EricLA]

Correct. What I should have said is it's great to see ND continue to recruit like gangbusters so they can continue to out perform Tennessee on a regular basis. And what I also meant is performance on the court. As fans, we all like to go back to recruiting classes and say "ooh, so and so was a top 5 recruit, etc etc.". Well how did they do in college?

The past 5 years, Tennessee has gone out in the NCAA's in the first round, sweet 16, and elite 8 three times. So going back to 2008, I guess those "better" classes didn't work out so well for Tennessee fans. What I could have said is that Muffett has coached circles around Pat in her twilight years, and Holly so far as well. Would that have made Tnvolfan65 feel better?

And, "on a regular basis" is subjective. Tnvolfan went back to 2008 for recruits. Yet the 2008 and 2009 classes have graduated. So it IS fair to say that ND has out-recruited Tennessee RECENTLY since ND's 2012 and 2014 classes are both better. It's really splitting hairs.

My original comment, then, was correct. Recently (the past 3 years), ND has outrecruited Tennessee. Having said all that, it's no surprise to people who know me on this board that Tennessee is my most disliked sports team bar none. I will admit that this dislike manifests itself at times in my posts. But the genesis of my original post is still accurate, hence disputing Tnvolfan's comments.

 

[John Glass]

She and Briana Turner make for a formidable front court. The notion of ND being a consistent contender is not especially exciting to me.

Where does Reimer fit in ? can they all play together ?

 

[sivad40]

What does Westbeld have to do with Tennessee? I wasn't aware that she had them in her final list.

 

[EricLA]

What does Westbeld have to do with Tennessee? I wasn't aware that she had them in her final list.

Not sure what your point is. I was commenting that it's nice to see ND recruiting with the big boys and recruiting better than Tennessee, my least favorite team. Then others chimed in with their comments as well.

 

[Suebird10fan]

And Notre Dame made the Final Four 3 years in a row. Must be better coaching in South Bend.

I know it's not the main gist of the thread ... but, I do think McGraw gets a lot out of her players. On that score I'd put her on a par with Geno and significantly ahead of anyone else.

Most BYers will dispute the comparison to Geno since she hasn't won it all since Ruth Riley. But I don't think she's had the horses to win it all. The interesting thing about recent recruiting success is that it looks like she'll finally have enough talent when Loyd is a senior, Reimer and Allen juniors, and Turner and Westbeld sophomores. It will be interesting to see how she does that year.

 

[UConnCat]

Where does Reimer fit in ? can they all play together ?

Doubtful. Reimer and Westbeld seem like the same player, though Reimer is probably a little bigger and more skilled in most aspects of the game. It'll be interesting to see what Muffet does with them and Turner next year but it's difficult to imagine all 3 playing together.

Interesting that both Geno and Muffet pursued Westbeld and not Waterman whom I think is the better of the two (more athletic, physical and aggressive) although they're rankings are very close.

 

[Bigpetunia]

I hate Notre Dame! Well, OK, I don't actually HATE them, but my strong anti-ND bias is based on the fact that the media has such a love affair with the place, going all the way back to the days of Knute Rockne, that they're always climbing all over themselves to "anoint" them champions of something or other irrespective of whether or not their actual accomplishments warrant such recognition, which they more often than not don't. Having said that, I am compelled to offer at least grudging admiration where it IS deserved. In my long professional career as a health provider with heavy exposure to children, and characterized by long-term follow-up care, I became something of an amateur expert on kids' level of relative satisfaction or dissatisfaction on where they chose to attend college. To my surprise, ND was consistently at or near the top end of the "satisfaction quotient." I don't think I would have wanted to go to school there, nor would I have so encouraged my children, but, clearly, the campus life there must be very appealing. Add to that the fact that the academic standards are generally uncompromising, and also the fact that Muffett is obviously a hell of a recruiter... well, put all that together with her unarguable talents as a coach, and we're clearly going to continue to face significant challenges from ND even if we're no longer conference rivals.

 

[UConnCat]

Add to that the fact that the academic standards are generally uncompromising, and also the fact that Muffett is obviously a hell of a recruiter...

I'm not sure Muffet is a hell of a recruiter. Notre Dame, like Duke, should sell itself yet Muffet struggled to capitalize on the national championship she won in 2001. She brought in a top recruit out of South Bend (Batteast) who struggled with expectations, and then ND became a top team when another player from South Bend (Diggins) decided to stay home rather than go to Stanford. Muffet is having more success nationally of late, but it seems Diggins and Ivey may be more responsible for that than Muffet.

 

[EricLA]

I'm not sure Muffet is a hell of a recruiter. Notre Dame, like Duke, should sell itself yet Muffet struggled to capitalize on the national championship she won in 2001. She brought in a top recruit out of South Bend (Batteast) who struggled with expectations, and they ND became a top team when another player from South Bend (Diggins) decided to stay home rather than go to Stanford. Muffet is having more success nationally of late, but it seems Diggins and Ivey may be more responsible for that than Muffet.

Also, didn't she lose 1 or 2 asst coaches shortly after the NC in 2001? I thought one or two of them moved on to other gigs, and that hurt her recruiting as well.

 

[Alydar]

Tennessee had a better class than Notre Dame in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2013. In 2012, Notre Dame was ranked 4th with the 4th, 33rd, and 52nd ranked players while Tennessee was ranked 5th with the 5th, 21st, and 39th ranked players.

They have a better class this year at the moment, but I don't see how that is considered out-recruiting Tennessee on a regular basis.

If you mean by a better class that Tenn signed players with higher rankings by several public ratings services then you are correct but those numbers are just a prediction and IMO the true measure of a recruiting class comes after 2 or three years on the court. A player's "rank" among their peers isn't determined by Clay Kallam or Hoopgurlz. They only predict future performance, like horse racing handicappers. Every day, horses scheduled to race are assigned odds. Those are the predictions of the line-maker and while they usually are somewhat close to the race results the better horses are determined on the race track. And the relative strength of recruiting classes is determined on the court. Notre Dame has taken what you feel are lesser players and have been to the last 3 FF's while Tenn hasn't been to even one. That suggests two alternative explanations, either you are wrong and they had better players, which means the rankings were wrong, or else the coaching at Notre Dame is the difference.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, not the brand names on the packages of the ingredients.

 

[UConnCat]

My sense of it was that she indicated that Uconn was no longer one of her finalists (Ohio State and Notre Dame).

I don't think that's completely accurate although I agree it likely would have come down to ND and OSU eventually. Remember Westbeld's Dad was interviewed by Jim Fuller in August and he said they hadn't had much contact with UConn over the summer. Had UConn continued pursuing Westbeld it sounded like she would have visited, although, again, ND and OSU seemed to be the co-favorites. Geno and the coaches definitely did a reset after the Summer evaluation period and decided to focus on two players for 2014, Wilson and Nurse, and spend September recruiting 2015 and beyond.